Editorial: Connecticut lawmakers should raise fines for texting while driving

Published 6:18 pm, Sunday, January 25, 2015

It is nothing but horrifying to be driving along and spot the motorist next to you peering down in a way that can only mean one thing: texting.

The need for us to stay in communication nearly every second of the day means that catching sight of this behavior has become all too common across the state.

This occurs despite the General Assembly setting fines for distracted driving to $150 for the first offense, $300 for the second offense, and $500 for all subsequent tickets.

Lawmakers have a lot of information in their hands when they make such decisions.

According to a December 2013 report by the Office of Legislative Research, for instance, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that nationwide “3,328 people were killed in distracted driving accidents in 2012, a slight decrease from 3,360 such fatalities in (2011). NHTSA estimated that 421,000 people were injured in these accidents in 2012, a 9 (percent) increase from the previous year.”

A slight decrease is not good enough. That 3,328 people died in such a way in 2012 is appalling.

The OLR report goes on to point out the obvious: Driving is an inherently risky activity. However, it also noted a few things you might not know.

Among these is that according to a study found on Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website “sending or receiving a text message takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent, at 55 mph, of driving the length of an entire football field. The study found that a driver’s risk of crashing while texting was 23 times greater than when not texting.”

And distracted driving is not another state’s problem.

Over the Christmas holiday this year (from Dec. 23 to Dec. 26) Connecticut state police cited 706 motorists for hazardous moving violations, which includes distracted driving, cell phones use, following too closely, among other violations.

That meant a lot of tickets and a lot of painful fines for a lot of motorists.

Now, lawmakers again are considering increasing the penalties for texting while driving or talking on a cellphone while driving unless the motorist has a hands-free device, our news partner Ctnewsjunkie.com reports.

This means the legislature’s Transportation Committee intends to hold a public hearing on a bill through which state Rep. Frank Nicastro, D-Bristol, is seeking to double each of those fine amounts.

“Double it all the way up and maybe they’ll get the message that people’s lives are worth a hell of a lot more than cellphones,” he said.

Nicastro said he proposed the bill after a constituent told him, “Her son, 37 years old, got killed while texting. He left behind his wife and two beautiful children. She told me we should make the law stiffer.”

A bill raised by Rep. Melissa Ziobron, R-East Haddam, would increase the consequences for distracted driving, making penalties more comparable to the penalties for drunken driving. Under Connecticut law, drunken drivers can serve prison time, have their licenses suspended and can face up to $8,000 in fines.

Ziobron said she did not have a specific penalty in mind, but said she believes fines alone are not an adequate deterrent.

Further, South Windsor Police Chief Matthew Reed, a legislative liaison for the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, told Ctnewsjunkie.com that reducing distracted driving remains a challenge for Connecticut law enforcement. He said some people believe higher fines have an unintended consequence of making police less likely to issue a ticket, as they are so costly.

But Nicastro said he “wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t believe it was the right thing to do.”

Given the numbers of people who clearly have not gotten the message that text messaging and driving don’t mix, we agree that more needs to be done to end this behavior.

In the face of the grave potential for loss of life, lawmakers do need to raise these fines and consider other potential penalties.

We all need to put down our phones and drive, with an eye toward the safety of all.

The Transportation Committee has until March 2 to hold public hearings on its proposals.